Willie Nelson speaks out on Texas border children

By Joshua Fechter, San Antonio Express-News

Updated 11:17 am, Thursday, August 14, 2014

Willie Nelson has a few thoughts about the flow of migrant children coming over the U.S.-Mexico border and how to deal with them.

"I've been watching, and the only thing we can do is take care of those kids, whatever it takes," Nelson told Rolling Stone. "Take them in, give them some medical attention. I'm sure there are homes all over the country that would be glad to take care of one or two kids."

FILE - In this March 15, 2014 file photo, Willie Nelson performs at the iTunes Festival during the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. University of Texas' Dolph Briscoe Center for American History on Thursday, May 8, 2014 announced that Nelson has donated many of his platinum records, manuscripts and creative documents to UT. The Willie Nelson Collection in Austin will be the focus of an upcoming exhibit. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP, File)
Photo: Jack Plunkett, Invision/Associated Press

Willie Nelson has a few thoughts about the flow of migrant children...

"They're scared," Willie Nelson, whose grandparents raised him after his parents left him when he was an infant, said of the Central American children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. "They're being mistreated. And it's not a good way to start off your life. But it's a good opportunity for us to show a little bit of humanitarianism and take care of those kids. I know a lot of people want to send them back. I guess the closer you are to the situation, the more extreme emotions you have about it, but it seems to me the old golden rule, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' or 'treat other people like you want to be treated' ... Treat those kids like they were your kids."

Pictured, Emmylou Harris, left, performs with Willie Nelson during Austin City Limits Hall of Fame on Saturday night April 26, 2014. Nelson, who will celebrate his 81st birthday next week by receiving his fifth-degree black belt in martial arts, was the first Austin City Limits performer in 1974 on what is now the longest-running television music program in the U.S. (AP Photo/Courtesy of KLRU, Scott Newton)
Photo: Scott Newton, Associated Press

"They're scared," Willie Nelson, whose grandparents raised him...

Willie Nelson also had some choice words for President Barack Obama, who opted not to visit the border during a July swing through Texas.

"I think he should have gone to the border," Nelson said. "To be that close and not go is kind of crazy, I think. But I'm sure he had all kinds of advisers, and he quit listening to me a long time ago."

A Border Patrol agent processes an 8-year-old from El Salvador. Legal resources for children from Central America fall below what is legally and morally required.
Photo: John Moore / Getty Images

A Border Patrol agent processes an 8-year-old from El Salvador....

TOP: There is no reason to fear the children flooding the border are spreading disease. Once in holding facilities, such as this one in Brownsville, they receive health screenings and immunizations. ABOVE: Border Patrol agents process a group of immigrants from Honduras and Guatemala, mostly women and children, found walking near McAllen last month. If your children were fleeing hunger and violence, how would you respond?
Photo: Jennifer Whitney / New York Times

TOP: There is no reason to fear the children flooding the border...

There is no reason to fear the children flooding the border are spreading disease. Once in holding facilities, such as this one in Brownsville, they receive health screenings and immunizations.

Photo: Eric Gay / Associated Press

There is no reason to fear the children flooding the border are...

Walking with her school-age children, a mother glances across the street where national police are investigating a murder in Barrio Cerro Grande in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Photo: Bob Owen / San Antonio Express-News

Walking with her school-age children, a mother glances across the...

MISSION, TX - JULY 24: Honduran undocumented immigrant Laura Fabio, 2 waits for her mother after they crossed the Rio Grande illegally into the United States on July 24, 2014 in Mission, Texas. Like most of the recent surge of Central American immigrant women and children, they brought documents, often birth certificates, to prove their nationality to U.S. Border officials. Tens of thousands of immigrant families and unaccompanied minors have crossed illegally into the United States this year and presented themselves to federal agents, causing a humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. Texas' Rio Grande Valley has become the epicenter of the latest immigrant crisis, as more immigrants, especially Central Americans, cross illegally from Mexico into that sector than any other stretch of the America's 1,933 mile border with Mexico.
Photo: John Moore, Getty Images

MISSION, TX - JULY 24: Honduran undocumented immigrant Laura...

People travel on rafts made out of tire inner tubes and wooden boards across the Suchiate River from Tecun Uman, Guatemala, to Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on Tuesday, July 22, 2014. People can avoid security and customs officials by by paying a 20-peso ($1.55) fare for the five-minute trip. Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg
Photo: Susana Gonzalez, Bloomberg

People travel on rafts made out of tire inner tubes and wooden...

A Border Patrol agent reads the birth certificate of Alejandro, 8. A group of civilians plans to patrol the border with guns.

Photo: Jennifer Whitney / New York Times

A Border Patrol agent reads the birth certificate of Alejandro,...

A deported Honduran teenager peers out a Mexican bus as it arrives in Corinto, Honduras, at the Guatemala border. Friday, June 27, 2014. A total of 7 busses returned a total of 254 adults and children that were apprehended in Mexico.
Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

A deported Honduran teenager peers out a Mexican bus as it arrives...

JUNE 25, 2014, 5:04 PM, GRANJENO, TEXAS â€“ Immigrants children wait with parents as Border Patrol agents process them in Granjeno, Texas. The city is just north of â€œEl Rincon del Diablo,â€ the Devilâ€™s Corner, a hotbed of illegal border crossing on the Rio Grande by juvenile and mothers with children immigrants from Central America.
Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News

JUNE 25, 2014, 5:04 PM, GRANJENO, TEXAS â€“ Immigrants...

JUNE 25, 2014, 5:02 PM, GRANJENO, TEXAS ÂÃÃ´ Immigrants wait to board a U.S. Government bus as Border Patrol agents process them in Granjeno, Texas. The city is just north of ÂÃÂ£El Rincon del Diablo,ÂÃÂ¥ the DevilÂÃÃs Corner, a hotbed of illegal border crossing on the Rio Grande by juvenile and mothers with children immigrants from Central America.
Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News

AUSTIN — Willie Nelson has a few thoughts about the flow of migrant children coming over the U.S.-Mexico border and how to deal with them.

"I've been watching, and the only thing we can do is take care of those kids, whatever it takes," Nelson told Rolling Stone. "Take them in, give them some medical attention. I'm sure there are homes all over the country that would be glad to take care of one or two kids."

"They're scared," said Nelson, whose grandparents raised him after his parents left him when he was an infant. "They're being mistreated. And it's not a good way to start off your life. But it's a good opportunity for us to show a little bit of humanitarianism and take care of those kids. I know a lot of people want to send them back. I guess the closer you are to the situation, the more extreme emotions you have about it, but it seems to me the old golden rule, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' or 'treat other people like you want to be treated' ... Treat those kids like they were your kids."

"I think he should have gone to the border," Nelson said. "To be that close and not go is kind of crazy, I think. But I'm sure he had all kinds of advisers, and he quit listening to me a long time ago."

In the article, Nelson also talked about his relationship with Gov. Rick Perry, who has spent time on Nelson's bus.

"Yeah, he and I are friends. We probably disagree on some things, but we probably agree on some also. He's a good guy."